Chapter 367: Ideas
Chapter 367: Chapter 367: Ideas
Mei Lin didn’t want to just sit and wait for her doom. "Mother, we can’t go on like this. I think Gu Kaichen will gamble again. He drained the family’s savings this time, but he won’t be so lucky next time."
She also felt a sense of crisis. "The debt collector specifically mentioned there were still ten taels of Silver left. Gu Kaichen will definitely walk willingly into their trap again. I’m afraid that when they return, we two sisters will be the first to suffer."
Xu Shuanghong said, "You two sisters pack up your things. We are leaving tonight."
"Just us?" Mei Lin thought of the hardships they had faced on their way here and flinched a little. "Are we going to the Capital City?"
"Yes, to the Capital City," Xu Shuanghong said with absolute certainty. "Given our current situation, we have no other choice. Following Gu Baijiang is our only way out now."
The Fan sisters had long been sick of staying in this impoverished middle of nowhere. It was the greatest hardship they had ever endured in their lives.
Without a second thought, they nodded immediately. "We’ll leave overnight."
As for travel expenses, the two sisters weren’t worried at all. What had just been confiscated from them were only the things they kept out in the open. They still had enough money to make the trip to the Capital City.
All three of them were determined to leave and coordinated perfectly. Even Gu Kaichen and his wife, separated by only a single wall, had no idea the room next door was already empty.
Meanwhile, back in the county town.
Bai Suihe was very curious about how things had unfolded, so she sent someone back to the village to gather information. It turned out the Gu family’s last bit of savings had indeed been completely drained.
"I’ll have someone keep an eye on him from now on," Gu Kaiyuan said after hearing his subordinate’s report.
He wasn’t afraid of Gu Kaichen bringing them trouble, but rather that desperation would drive the man to do something drastic.
"If he keeps gambling like this, it’s inevitable that he’ll end up with broken arms and legs." Bai Suihe didn’t sympathize with Gu Kaichen, but she simply felt sorry for Xu Yulan and her son.
Xu Yulan’s worst faults were her petty, underhanded schemes; she wasn’t an unforgivably evil person.
That boy Gu Anwei had some street smarts and knew which way the wind blew. In Bai Suihe’s memory, when Gu Kaiyuan was targeting the main branch of the family, that kid had even secretly helped them out a few times.
Gu Kaiyuan said, "Rather than letting someone else break his limbs, I might as well do it myself."
Gu Kaiyuan pursed his lips. With Gu Kaichen jumping around causing trouble, there was no way he could affect the Capital City. He might even bring about his own destruction, directly clearing an obstacle for the main branch.
"Let’s wait and see," Bai Suihe said, not wanting Gu Kaiyuan to dirty his own hands. "He doesn’t have much Silver left, and the casino won’t give him much credit. When the casino eventually deals with him, if worse comes to worst, we can just cover his travel expenses and send him to the Capital City."
Bai Suihe was more than happy to do such a "good deed." It would be best to let them fight amongst themselves and keep them from harming anyone else.
While the couple was talking, Zhou Youjin, who had come into town for purchasing, entered the mansion and brought the latest news from the village.
Hearing that Xu Shuanghong and her daughters had disappeared that morning and were rumored to have headed to the Capital City to find Gu Baijiang, Gu Kaiyuan and Bai Suihe fell silent.
It seemed they weren’t the only ones afraid of trouble; someone else had fled before them.
"That was a smart move," Gu Kaiyuan couldn’t help but praise. "What do Gu Kaichen and the others have to say about this?"
"Second Young Master Gu is cursing in the village, saying that Xu Shuanghong and her daughters lack morals and eloped with wild men."
Zhou Youjin omitted the more vulgar curses to avoid dirtying his two masters’ ears.
"Keep a close eye on things on your end too. How is the village doing now?"
"Steward Zhuang and Steward Huang have already hired villagers to start working. They are clearing the thorns on the mountain, so we can plant the fruit trees as soon as they arrive," Zhou Youjin replied respectfully. "Also, we just harvested another batch of vegetables from the backyard. Both stewards had them sent over."
Gu Kaiyuan had already entrusted the affairs in Tian Village to Zhuang Datou and the others, but they still sent someone over every couple of days to report back and deliver fresh vegetables.
Ever since they built the greenhouse, they hadn’t felt the cold this winter. While other people’s vegetable patches had yet to yield any fresh crops, they already had a constant supply of greens.
Gu Kaiyuan had Zhou Youjin take back the items he had prepared earlier, then exchanged a look with Bai Suihe.
"They’re certainly bold," Bai Suihe couldn’t help but compliment. "Do you think they might still be in the county town today since they left yesterday?"
Gu Kaiyuan shook his head. "They shouldn’t be coming to Zhang County."
Bai Suihe realized he was right. Since Xu Shuanghong and her daughters knew they were currently in Zhang County—and that they weren’t particularly fond of them—they would be afraid of being intercepted and sent back to Tian Village.
Since they were already prepared to flee, they had definitely taken this into consideration. It was much more likely that they had escaped to one of the neighboring towns.
"If they go to the Capital City, there will be quite a show to watch." Bai Suihe was genuinely curious. What would happen to Gu Baijiang once he returned to the Capital City?
Little did she know, the wealth Gu Kaiyuan had taken her to confiscate back then was only a fraction of it. Gu Baijiang was a cunning old fox and had left himself a way out, but that was a story for another time.
Taking advantage of the recent panic, Gu Kaiyuan had acquired a few more storefronts. He was currently debating whether to rent them out or do something else with them.
Bai Suihe had also reviewed the land and property deeds. For two of the storefronts, Gu Kaiyuan was planning to stick to his old trade and open a bookstore and a tavern.
Bai Suihe knew the profits would be substantial and didn’t stop him, but she did claim two of the other storefronts for herself.
"What are you planning to do, Mrs. Gu?" Nanny Pang asked curiously.
The Bai family was involved in all kinds of businesses, but they only ever taught the male heirs how to run them. Someone like Bai Suihe was, at most, expected to review ledgers and learn the art of managing subordinates.
"I want to open a fabric shop and a ready-to-wear boutique," she replied. Bai Suihe wasn’t confident in much else, but she was definitely confident in running a clothing store. She could draw the design sketches herself. Backed by thousands of years of cultural heritage, she certainly possessed an eye for fashion.
As for opening a restaurant?
Aside from her lack of recipes, finding an outstanding chef would be incredibly difficult.
Chili peppers didn’t even exist in this space-time yet, and many dishes would lose their soul without them.
As for growing chili peppers now, both Gu Kaiyuan and Bai Suihe agreed that the time wasn’t right. Whenever they craved them, they would just cook for themselves inside their spatial dimension.
Although the taste left much to be desired, it was still better than nothing.
"A fabric shop and a ready-to-wear boutique?" Nanny Pang finally understood why Bai Suihe had chosen two adjacent storefronts.
"Yes, I want to knock down the wall between them. That way, customers will have more choices when they enter the store."
As for the supply of goods, she had hoarded quite a bit before leaving the Capital City. There was also the massive amount of inventory she had cleared out from inside the Third Prince’s Mansion. While she didn’t dare use the precious items just yet, the cotton cloth and other ordinary fabrics meant for the mansion’s everyday use bore no identifying marks.
In a small county town like this, it would probably take two or three years just to sell it all.
As for the better fabrics, Bai Suihe could easily pivot to haute couture, designing a few outfits to display in the storefront as the shop’s signature centerpieces.
In the past, she definitely wouldn’t have dared to consider this. After all, this place was quite remote; opening such a shop here wouldn’t have much of a future.
But in the future, this place would become a major thoroughfare between Lingnan and the Capital City, which changed everything.